The Great War Won: ...Should Prepare for War - Softcover

Loyd, James Emerson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 099057637X ISBN 13: 9780990576372

Publisher: James Emerson Loyd, 2016

Synopsis

As 1917 waned, the collapse of the old Russia, the Tsarist Empire, turned the world on its head. Its foes saw its weakness as did its friends, not least its allies in France and Britain, but the latter saw, too, a perverse blessing of sorts. Under Alexander Kerensky's ascendant Socialist government, the Entente no longer had to explain its collaboration with the worst of the autocratic regimes in Europe. For a time, Russia seemed revitalized, even retaking the offensive against Germany. It was not to be. After a bare half year of military futility and political unrest, in October(under the old Julian calendar, November under the western Gregorian), Lenin's small but organized band of Bolsheviks took charge, then quickly sued for peace with Germany. In the West, first the French, then the British had suffered horrendous casualties in ill-conceived offensives, the French in Champagne country, the British in Flanders. Mutiny infected France, dismay enveloped England and enervation pervaded the entire Western Front. When Germany proclaimed its resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare in the spring of 1917, America, now freed of the yoke of association with the Tsar, entered the war against Germany but not the other Central Powers. Its new Associates, Britain and France, embracing the new world's seemingly unlimited resources, thought they could now see the beginning of the end. But American was months away from fielding an effective fighting force. The new year began unfolding in the East as Germany began settling matters on its own terms, ending its strategic nightmare of a war on two fronts, able to turn its full and fearsome attentions to the West...

About this title

About the Author

James Emerson Loyd is a recovering architect and retired real estate executive, hardly apprenticeships to becoming an author of historical fiction. As an amateur historian of the twentieth century, he had long been fascinated by the First World War and how Germany's collapse in 1918 led to Europe's descent into totalitarianism. So, after reading and re-reading some Clancy and Crichton and Furst along with his histories, one day he decided to write his first novel. With a rough idea of a subject -- how that collapse could have been prevented -- he sat down at the keyboard and began writing. Before long, he found himself simply taking dictation from his characters as they grew into the storyline and more than a thousand pages later, he was done. A San Antonio native, he spent twenty-five years away from home then returned after marrying his high school sweetheart. They live with their two dogs (one French pointer, one German Schnauzer, appropriately) in their old neighborhood.

Review

...Should Prepare for War:  The Great War Won Trilogy

The final years of the First World War form the backdrop for James Emerson Loyd's epic trilogy, The Great War Won.  The trilogy ranges from the corridors of power to the front lines of the Allied forces in the field, especially all the ranks of the German armed forces.  The saga takes in a sprawling cast of characters, many from the pages of history, and some wholly invented by the author (the foremost of these, a princess named Claire described by no less than Theodore Roosevelt as a force of nature, is a spectacular fictional creation).

The first volume of the trilogy, Who Desires Peace..., focuses on the efforts of a small group on conspirators bent on bringing about a peace at any cost.  The second, (...Should Prepare for War) and third volume (A Power of Recognized Superiority) concentrate more on battlefields than espionage, and in all cases Loyd's strong, supple prose never falters, his ear for dialogue never dulls, and his knack for capturing historical characters with well-chosen small details never deserts him.

Woven into the trilogy's powerful but more or less conventional set pieces of historical fiction are subtle but fascinating tweakings of alternative history that often involve real historical characters like Michael Collins and Rosa Luxemburg in activities that would have astounded them.  The result is a genuinely impressive accomplishment, enthusiastically recommended.

--Steve Donoghue
A Historical Novel Society Editor's Choice.

A thoroughly engaging look at WW1, book 2 of the series continues the exploits of the fictional General von Treptow and his attempts to bring the war to an end.  As in the first book, I was taken by the number of events that take place, the plots and subplots that drive the narrative... but what good are those story lines without interesting characters to make those events happen.. what good are those interesting characters without believable dialogue?  Well, my peeps and fellow travelers, you need not fret over those aspects of the story.  The characters are lifelike, some even larger than life... the dialogue is full of the sharp repartee, the clever retort, the belligerent espousing of opinion... an example - a meeting of David Lloyd George, Churchill, and Teddy Roosevelt (and others):"(A) thoroughly pissed Prime Minister rose to depart.  "Well, then, perhaps not the King today.  Arthur, Henry, we shall take our leave.  Thank you, Lord Elsmere, for your hospitality.  Winston, I should very much like to see you at Number Ten.  Four this afternoon.  Arthur, please see to your Dutch colleague.  Good day, Colonel Roosevelt."  As the Englishmen trooped out, Balfour gave a shrug with his backward glance.  Roosevelt turned to Churchill, "Winston, was it something I said?"An excellent sequel that will keep you turning the pages (or swiping your Kindle).  Intrigue, adventure, danger, and even love await you amidst the turmoil of a cataclysmic world changing event.  5 stars.-- hooverbookreviews

Edition details

• Publisher: James Emerson Loyd
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 099057637X
• ISBN 13: 9780990576372
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 472